Sausage and Peppers Penne

I'm making an "oldie but a goodie" recipe tonight; Sausage with Peppers Penne.  I think the name was originally longer and more discriptive, but my mom wrote it down for me when we got married, and I have made it a few times since, therefore I don't remember what it's actually called anymore.

It's a really simple recipe.  The problem I have incurred is that it calls for Emeril's Roasted Red Pepper and Garlic Pasta Sauce... which doesn't seem to exist anymore.  So, I make due with Newman's Roasted Tomato and Garlic Sauce, or what Emeril used to call his "GAAAAAALIC" Pasta Sauce, now boring-ly Emeril's Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce.

Basically, you take cooked Penne (it says 6 cups... I used a small package, whole wheat) and top it with the rest.
Cook a package of Italian sausage, in casings, over medium-medium high heat, turning to prevent burning the casings.  I use a package that has 6 sausages, and I used the mild kind, though you could get sweet or spicy.  I think spicy would be great, but I wasn't sure if my daughter would eat some.   You can also get them straight from the butcher.

Remove the sausage from the pan (use a large, flat pan, preferably with a couple of inches of height to keep in the ingredients), wipe out the pan and add vegetable oil (to lighten the dish and make sure you have the right amount of oil, about 1 TBS -- this is optional, but will prevent it from having pools of grease on top of the finished dish).

Add 1 cup of green bell pepper (2 medium peppers), 1/2 cup (or 1 medium) each yellow and red peppers, cut into 1/4"-1/2" strips.  I would definitely not substitute or leave out a color, here.  All three have distinctive tastes.  Without the red pepper, it would definitely not taste right.  With too much green, it wouldn't be sweet enough.  And the yellow is sweet and pretty.  Also slice up and half one medium onion.  Put these in the pan and saute about 6 minutes; the veggies should still be pretty crisp.  Add 6 cloves of minced garlic (no, it's not too much.  I added 8, in fact.)  Saute another 1-2 minutes.  Add back the sausages, cut diagonally into 1-2' slices (diagonal helps with the casing being chewy and looks prettier).  Add 1 24 oz jar of some sort of roasted pepper/tomato a/o garlic tomato-based pasta sauce such as the one described.  Most 'normal' sized jars are 24-oz.  Simmer on low for a few minutes until everything is heated through and the flavors combine; don't simmer for more than 5-10 minutes, or the peppers will be mushy, which it VERY undesireable to the discerning palate.  The recipe says to add 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese at this point, removing from the heat and stirring until melted.  I don't really like mozzarella and it makes it hard to clean.  I just add a little bit of parmesan or a parmesan/romano blend, and top with a pinch of the parmesan (as stated in the recipe).  I don't think the mozzarella is necessary, but feel free to try it with or without.

For one cup of the pasta and 2/3-3/4 cup of the sauce mixture, it is about 450 calories.  I don't know the other specs off-hand, I just remember it saying "453 calories" on the recipe card my mom wrote out for me.  But I think that's really good.  It's very filling and it is warm and comforting, with rich tomato flavor and PASTA!  One bowl has a ton of veggies, but in my opinion, you should probably have a salad or something on the side to get the right proportion of veggies/protein/grains.

 One more issue with this recipe:  24 ounces of tomato sauce is usually 2-4 ounces shy, if you like your pasta to have some sauce cover it a bit.  So, you can do a few things: you could buy two jars and save the remainder of the second in the fridge; you could add some water, but I don't think that's actually going to make it better for you; you could add some stock... still not going to really help it too much, though it will loosen the sauce slightly; you could buy a tiny can of tomato sauce, the plain kind for sale by the chopped tomatoes, and add as much of that as you'll need.  That will add some extra sauce and loosen the sauce up a bit without compromising or watering down the flavor.  Or, you could just eat it as is, if you don't really want the sauce and the pasta to combine.

Overall, it's a great recipe that's low-calorie, satisfying, and it's easy and quick to make.  I suggest you try it some night!

Sweet 'N Sour Sauce

One of my daughter's favorite things to eat is sweet 'n sour chicken. We often will get some kind of oriental food, and the restaurants often have a version of this famous American-Chinese food dish. Jocelyn has always loved to eat steamed rice, and the sweetness of the sauce with the standard child protein - fried chicken in bite sizes - makes this dish a winner.

The problem with this is the sauce. Most places have this IMMENSELY red sauce that obviously contains some sort of food coloring, probably red #40 or some other dye that we'd prefer not to eat in such high quantities. If it was just a little, that'd be one thing, but she eats lots of this sauce, and at least once a week, and it stains her fingers, it has so much dye in it. This is not what we'd consider healthy, and to top it off, it stains worse than almost anything else. (And is drippy to boot.) My husband and I have always wanted to try to make our own sweet 'n sour sauce.

Today, we ordered Chinese food from a delivery place nearby, Dragon Cafe Express. We ordered Sweet 'N Sour Chicken for Jocelyn and my husband to share, a family size, and (this is the first time this has happened with this restaurant) we did not receive the sauce, just the entree without sauce. This, as any parent will understand, was a disaster, because without sauce, the chicken might as well be fried radishes or something - it's inedible to a three year old expecting sweet sauce!

We both ran to the computer to Google a recipe, and pieced one together. This is basically what we got:

• 1/2 c ketchup
• 1/3 c vinegar
• 2/3 c brown sugar
• 1/2 c water
• 1 TBS corn starch

First three ingredients: mix in pan, heat until simmering, remove from heat to slowly add in the water + cornstarch mixture, whisking as you add.  Return to heat and simmer, then turn off heat, stirring occasionally.  The sauce will thicken as it cools.

We decided to use some of the other recipes' ideas, and add a little bit of soy sauce and, since we didn't have straight pineapple juice, some of the Simply Orange juice with added pineapple we had bought for our daughter.  Probably about 1 - 2 TBS of each.

The sauce was a hit!  It was a bit thick once it cooled to luke warm (a good eating temperature), and we decided we would use a different recipe without ketchup next time to adapt to the thickness problem as well as the pseudo-ketchup flavor.  It kind of reminded me of a mild BBQ sauce you might get on deli meatloaf or something.  We also thought we'd use apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar instead of the plain white vinegar, just to give it dimension.   I actually liked the orange+pineapple; you could almost make an "Orange Chicken" sauce by adapting this sauce to have more of the juice.  Some of the recipes called for adding minced garlic, ginger, or chives/green onions, and some called for making an infusion with said ingredients, also perhaps adding crushed red pepper flakes or a red pepper itself for flavor.  Also, many added salt, but if we are adding soy sauce, we decided not to add the salt.

All-in-all, it was fun, fast, and easy to make, and making the chicken itself wouldn't be that hard!  (Though maybe a little messy... I'm not a fan of frying at home, especially without a deep fryer.)

I was so impressed with my husband and I, both that we were working so well as a team, had the same idea, and carried it out to a yummy completion!  My daughter never knew that we didn't actually receive the sauce.  A beautiful way to do lunch (and to learn a new, quick weeknight recipe)!

RECIPE TIME!: Swiss Chard, Macaroni and Cheese

I apologize that I haven't posted in such a long time! I will try to make them at least once a week, as I was doing previously.

However:
I have been going crazy with cooking this past week. I have some interesting CSA vegetables from Saturday, and I've been trying to find the best ways, or at least some interesting ways, to use them. The first thing I found was a recipe using the Swiss Chard that I received. I'm not certain that I used enough chard, but I don't think the proportions matter that much in this case. It is a Mac 'N Cheese with Swiss Chard recipe that I found in a "bon appetit" cook book my mom gave me. I also found it on epicurious.com, lucky enough for the blog and my fingers that now don't have to type the VERY LONG recipe!

Basically, it's a normal mac n cheese recipe. It uses Gouda and Edam cheeses... Gouda is pretty moderate in price, but to get 2 cups of packed, shredded Edam, you'd have to spend at least $20 (or I would have). Thus I halved the amount of Edam, added extra Gouda, and added some Gruyere for good measure. I also added an extra garlic clove, even though my garlic was pretty large to begin with, because... well, that's me. I didn't think that 2 cloves of garlic for 12 ounces of pasta was near enough, but I didn't want to change too much, so I only added... probably another 100% of what was expected. I seasoned most of the cooking steps with salt and fresh cracked pepper, as it sort of tells you to do, but not specifically. I might also add extra of all of the seasonings; I can hardly taste the cayenne, and wouldn't mind a touch more, and I loved the smell of the nutmeg and cumin seeds together, but I don't get that same effect in the overall dish, so I might add another 1/8 or 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg. I liberally salted the cooking water as well, and LOVED the fact that you blanch the chard in the same water you will be cooking the macaroni in... helps retain some of the nutrients lost in the necessary blanching step, and probably adds flavor.

My only other change, which I didn't think of as much of a change until after I did it, was to use whole, non-homogonized milk. Oops. I need to learn more about cooking with non-homogonized milk. I don't very often make "creamy" recipes for 2 reasons: they tend to be much higher in fat/calories, and my husband doesn't really like them much (though he does like mac 'n cheese and seemed okay with trying this recipe). The milk, being almost raw/straight from the cow, ended up making it's own "cheese" in a way and became kind of clumpy in the sauce. I should have known that was going to happen, but I totally forgot. This could also be due to the fact that my daughter was "helping" me with the cheese and I didn't get to whisk it as much as I'd like, or keep as close of an eye on it as I'd like. HOWEVER...

It does make an ENTIRE 13x9x2 pan, full to the brim, of mac 'n cheese. And it does make a "healthy" mac 'n cheese, as you can control the butter, milk, cheese, etc that you use, and it does add in a dark green leafy vegetable, of the type which Americans don't get near enough.

We grilled some bratwurst, cut up a watermelon, and had the mac 'n cheese for dinner.

The most important thing is: how did the Swiss Chard taste in the macaroni? Decadent. Truly great. I LOVED the change up, and for those of you that, like me, worried about the mouth-feel and texture: don't. The chard melts in your mouth, and you barely can tell it's there in that sense. The mild flavor permeates the entire dish, leaving you with a different, but silky and perhaps not-so-rich mac 'n cheese that could be served at a fine dining restaurant.

Cheeses being disproportionate did not bother me. I don't know if it would be better or worse changing the proportions of Edam, but to me, this was great. I might actually add a bit of Asiago or Parmesan, especially to the topping, next time. And, to speak of the topping: LOVE the crunchy bread crumb topping. I might add fresh parsley to that next time as well, for the extra peppery bite and for the color. I would also salt the pasta/cheese mixture more liberally than I did. Definitely needs a bit more salt to bring out the flavors.

Amazing recipe. Loved it. Don't mind that I just about ruined my lower back doing the prep work for it!! I suggest you try it... even if you don't care about your health. You'll be getting immense health benefits from the dark leafy greens, but the flavor will BLOW YOUR MIND.

My CSA with Tomāto Tomäto

So, I was looking at what I was going to pick up tomorrow when I pick up my CSA share for the week, and though I had many other things to blog about, it dawned on me: DUH! I should share about my CSA.

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. How it works, basically, is I purchase a "share" from a farm, or in this case, multiple farms working as a co-op of sorts through Tomāto Tomäto, which is actually an "indoor farmer's market" as well. Here's the description of the CSA from their site:

Community Supported Agriculture, most commonly known as a CSA, has become a very popular way to get healthy local foods and support your local farm economy at the same time.

Interested consumers purchase a share, or membership, and in return receive a bag of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season. The Tomāto Tomäto CSA will begin May 8th and continue for 20 weeks. This will secure you with fresh produce for almost half the year.

I was so excited to be a part of a CSA this year, and I LOVE the company. There are multiple farms that are contributing, and I decided to purchase our little family a "big bag", which is supposed to be for a larger number of people, but we actually have used most of what we've been given every week (and plan to have people over to feed, or give away produce in the event that we will not use it all). I do have to tailor my weekly menu around the produce we get, but that's fine with me. Sometimes working from scratch with just about anything you could want from the grocery is taxing, and I end up falling into a funk or just not planning anything. I still have go-to recipes, but this pushes me to try new things and to utilize the freshest of ingredients.

For instance, last week, we got the BEST lettuces, one head of green and one of "purple" which was mostly green with purple at the edges. We used them for salads 3 different nights, one of which was for 4 adults. My parents were over, and they thought it was the best, freshest salad! And we only put lettuce, tomatoes, and radishes in it. But I had just picked up the produce less than 12 hours before, and it was just harvested less than 48 hours before. So... it made a huge difference. Another great thing about it was that, another night this week, my daughter helped me tear up the other lettuce leaves to make another salad, and she actually tried some. She has been wary of trying salad all her short life! But because she helped make it, she actually tried it. Knowing her, and early-childhood development, she will most likely try it again next time and actually eat some of it without complaint.

This week, this is what we are getting in our bag:

• green cabbage
• turnips
• asparagus
• rhubarb
• cucumbers
• fresh bread
• either eggs or cheese, depending on if we are group A or B (I actually don't remember what we got last week, as sad as that is, because we used it all.)

Last week, we also received rhubarb, and I was SO EXCITED... but I had a busy weekend, and I forgot to use it. Luckily, I store produce correctly immediately upon getting it, a tip I learned from the Food Network a long time ago to keep produce fresher, longer, and to cut down on prep time. I LOVE rhubarb. I also LOVE strawberry rhubarb deserts, so I will be cooking at least one, and for the first time in my life, using fresh rhubarb. (Tomāto Tomäto also provided us with some recipes for rhubarb, correctly predicting that some of their shareholders would not have used it before.) If you've ever wondered about fresh rhubarb, stay tuned, because I will definitely post details about what to do with it and how, and if I have any roadblocks along the way. I'll also post a recipe or two!

Some tips, if you decide to join a CSA:

• Unfortunately, it's probably too late in the season now. Farmers have to get a certain number of shares in order to survive via CSAs, and so you could get on a waiting list or get lucky, but most likely, the memberships for 2010 are closed.
• Expect to pay up front, at least for part of the season. You might be used to buying groceries once or twice a week; you'll still have to use the grocery store for things other than what's in your CSA bag, so try to budget for both, and realize it will probably save you money to buy a CSA share by the end of the season... but you won't see the savings until then.
• CSA shares start out with fewer items and typically end with more. In this particular CSA, they give us a growth chart for the season and it tells us what is in season when. This helps us prepare for what we will receive. They also informed us that in our area of the country, the produce will be more like a bell curve: we will receive the most in the middle, with it tapering at the end. I have already seen this begin to happen, as the first few weeks were lighter amounts of produce, and this past week's bag was rather large and heavy!
• Get used to using seasonal produce, and don't expect to plan your menu around things that aren't in season, or you'll end up buying just as much from the grocery store and wasting what is in your share of the CSA.
• Research seasonal produce and it's benefits! I'll have another post on this, but there is research that people have eliminated toxins to the point of having 10-year-old hair dye come out of their pores and gross things like that, just by eating locally (I believe that person in particular was also eating organic, and only local and organic, foods.)
• See if the CSA has an option to buy things like eggs, cheese, bread, or meats, as Tomāto Tomäto offers. Not a bad option if you're looking for it!
• Look into the sustainability of the CSA you're looking to join, or ask.

This website has GREAT information about local food: Sustainable Table It also deals with sustainability and other such subjects very well.

In order to keep this from becoming multiple pages long, I will end it here. Basically, the idea is that I LOVE my CSA, and I love buying local, fresh food. And I'm SUPER EXCITED about RHUBARB! If anyone has recipes to share that include one or more of my CSA ingredients, please share! I'd love to try some.